WEBVTT - Terror Attack in New Orleans-What We Know So Far 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:03.160 Welcome. It is Verdict with Center Ted Cruz. This is 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:06.840 obviously one of those shows that neither of us wanted 0:00:06.880 --> 0:00:08.799 to do, but it's an important one to get you 0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:12.959 information about what has happened and this horrific terrorist attack 0:00:13.160 --> 0:00:16.400 in New Orleans and also what looks to be some 0:00:16.440 --> 0:00:19.760 sort of attack in Las Vegas outside of the Trump 0:00:19.800 --> 0:00:24.680 Hotel there. Senator, this has a connection obviously to Texas. 0:00:25.520 --> 0:00:28.520 Many of us were celebrating New Year's Eve. You were 0:00:28.520 --> 0:00:30.720 down at mar A Lago. I was with my family 0:00:30.760 --> 0:00:33.120 at the beach, and then we see and wake up 0:00:33.159 --> 0:00:35.559 to this news breaking. And I want to timestamp this 0:00:35.680 --> 0:00:38.159 for people to understand when we're recording this. We're recording 0:00:38.159 --> 0:00:42.800 this at nine thirty Eastern time on Wednesday, so much 0:00:42.800 --> 0:00:44.640 of this may change, So I just want you to 0:00:44.680 --> 0:00:46.639 know when we started this, but I want to get 0:00:46.680 --> 0:00:49.080 your initial reaction to what we've witnessed. 0:00:50.120 --> 0:00:52.519 Well, we're less than twenty four hours out from the 0:00:52.640 --> 0:00:56.640 United States once again saying a significant terrorist attack on 0:00:56.840 --> 0:01:01.160 US soil. At three point fifteen and morning New Year's Day, 0:01:03.400 --> 0:01:08.320 forty two year old sham sad Din Bahar Jabbar, who 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:12.360 is a US citizen a Texas resident, he drove a 0:01:12.400 --> 0:01:17.000 white pickup truck into people celebrating on Bourbon Street. Jabbar 0:01:17.160 --> 0:01:20.720 was born in Beaumont, Texas. He resides in Houston, your 0:01:20.760 --> 0:01:24.960 hometown and my hometown, and he was an Army veteran. 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:32.280 As we talked today, fifteen people have been killed and 0:01:33.800 --> 0:01:38.000 several dozen more have been injured. And I will say, 0:01:38.040 --> 0:01:40.880 as is the nature of any fast breaking crisis and 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:45.160 fast breaking news story, the news that is available is 0:01:45.840 --> 0:01:49.240 rapidly moving. It is changing. So we're going to talk 0:01:49.280 --> 0:01:51.560 about what's happening, what we know now, but with the 0:01:51.600 --> 0:01:55.800 caveat that, we can fully expect the information we know 0:01:55.880 --> 0:01:59.880 on this to change and very possibly changed significantly in 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:02.480 days and weeks to come. We're less than twenty four 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:05.440 hours out from this attack, but what we know now 0:02:05.600 --> 0:02:11.160 is deeply, deeply disturbing. It has been reported that this 0:02:11.400 --> 0:02:15.600 Army veteran drove the pickup truck deliberately into a crowd 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:20.840 of revelers with the intent of killing and harming as 0:02:20.880 --> 0:02:24.320 many people as possible. It's also been reported that the 0:02:24.320 --> 0:02:29.919 pickup truck was flying an ISIS flag and that Jabbar 0:02:31.560 --> 0:02:38.720 was inspired by ISIS. Simultaneously, we have a Tesla cyber 0:02:38.800 --> 0:02:42.000 truck that exploded in front of the Trump Hotel in 0:02:42.080 --> 0:02:46.919 Las Vegas, killing one injuring several. The one who was 0:02:47.040 --> 0:02:50.560 killed was the driver. It is not confirmed that those 0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:54.360 two are linked, but both occurred early in the morning 0:02:55.120 --> 0:02:58.760 on New Year's Day, and America is now dealing with 0:02:58.960 --> 0:03:04.560 the aftermath of one or potentially two terrorist attacks, finding 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:09.400 out who's responsible, finding out if additional actors were responsible. 0:03:09.400 --> 0:03:14.160 There have been multiple reports of additional individuals potentially placing 0:03:15.280 --> 0:03:19.800 IEDs and at this point, the entire country is reeling 0:03:19.840 --> 0:03:20.560 from this attack. 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:25.679 It is really sad. And this goes back to the 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:29.280 bigger concern that we've worried about on this show and 0:03:29.320 --> 0:03:32.600 talked about, and it's something that I think so many 0:03:32.639 --> 0:03:36.320 Americans felt. You had a wide open southern border. You 0:03:36.480 --> 0:03:39.240 had a lot of people that have been able to 0:03:39.280 --> 0:03:41.800 come across the southern border that were caught that were 0:03:41.800 --> 0:03:45.440 on the terrorists watch list. You have law enforcement that, 0:03:45.520 --> 0:03:47.760 I think it's pretty fair to say, is stretched extremely 0:03:47.840 --> 0:03:49.880 thin when you're having to deal with a wide open 0:03:49.960 --> 0:03:52.520 southern border and what is coming across that southern border, 0:03:53.520 --> 0:03:59.120 and this individual being an American citizen and being a Texan, 0:03:59.160 --> 0:04:02.400 as you described, But the real problem can be that 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:06.120 we are stretched so thin with so many possibilities out there, 0:04:06.520 --> 0:04:09.600 that this is one of those examples of when we've 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:13.560 had this open door policy. Law enforcement is doing the 0:04:13.640 --> 0:04:16.640 maybe in many cases, the best they can, and they 0:04:16.720 --> 0:04:18.920 just don't have the time or the resources they need 0:04:18.960 --> 0:04:21.000 to focus in on these types of threats. 0:04:21.520 --> 0:04:25.240 Well, that is tragically correct, and on this podcast we 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:30.479 have been predicting for months now that the odds of 0:04:30.520 --> 0:04:33.520 a major terrorist attack in the United States were higher 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:36.839 than they have been at any time since September eleventh, 0:04:37.000 --> 0:04:42.600 and unfortunately, this morning's tragic events confirms that now in 0:04:42.640 --> 0:04:46.160 this instance, the facts are still coming out. What we 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:49.719 know about Jabbar according to the Army Liaison's Office and 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:52.640 what he has told what they have released. He served 0:04:52.640 --> 0:04:56.520 in the Army from two thousand and six to twenty twenty, 0:04:57.320 --> 0:05:01.520 including approximately nine years of active duty service. He held 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:09.440 specialties in HR and IT. He was born in Beaumont, Texas. 0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:13.760 He deployed in Afghanistan from two thousand and nine to 0:05:13.800 --> 0:05:18.040 twenty ten. He was in the Army Reserve from twenty 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:21.839 fifteen to twenty twenty, and he was discharged in twenty 0:05:21.880 --> 0:05:27.400 twenty with an honorable discharge for unsatisfactory participation. That much 0:05:27.480 --> 0:05:33.960 we know. We also know that in his truck were 0:05:34.080 --> 0:05:42.640 found explosive devices. Explosive devices including two pipe bombs that 0:05:42.680 --> 0:05:46.880 were concealed within coolers and wired for remote detonation. That's 0:05:46.920 --> 0:05:54.159 according to the Louisiana State Police and the pickup truck. 0:05:55.520 --> 0:05:59.880 The pickup truck its origin, there has been conflicting reporting 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:06.520 it so earlier today it was reported that the truck 0:06:07.400 --> 0:06:10.440 used in the New Orleans attack came through the Southern border, 0:06:10.440 --> 0:06:15.160 and The Daily Wire reported that Early today, Fox News 0:06:15.240 --> 0:06:17.680 reported that the truck entered the US two days ago, 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:22.640 but they then updated their story to report that the 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:27.679 truck crossed the southern border on November sixteenth. So November sixteenth, 0:06:28.120 --> 0:06:30.560 a month and a half ago, apparently the truck crossed 0:06:30.600 --> 0:06:35.240 the southern border. It has also now been reported that 0:06:35.279 --> 0:06:39.760 the truck in New Orleans was rented using the Touro app. 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:42.160 The tourou app is a peer to peer app, and 0:06:42.520 --> 0:06:46.760 one of the strange details that has been reported is 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:50.840 that both the truck in New Orleans and the cyber 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:54.479 truck in Los Angeles, in Las Vegas rather were both 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:58.600 rented using the tourou app. That may simply be a coincidence, 0:06:59.520 --> 0:07:03.440 it may be something more. But what has been reported. 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:07.279 The New York Times is reporting that both were rented 0:07:08.040 --> 0:07:12.840 using Toro. Toro itself put out a statement that said 0:07:12.880 --> 0:07:16.440 that it was quote actively partnering with law enforcement authorities 0:07:16.480 --> 0:07:20.160 as they investigate both incidents. They also said, quote we 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:22.320 do not believe that either rent or involved in the 0:07:22.360 --> 0:07:25.640 Las Vegas or New Orleans attacks had a criminal background 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:28.240 that would have identified them as a security threat threat. 0:07:30.240 --> 0:07:33.280 It's not clear as we sit here today the full 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:38.840 details of that, but those are the breaking details as 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:40.200 of nine to forty one pm. 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:42.520 I want to go back to a headline real quick, 0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:44.520 and then I also want to play for everybody what 0:07:44.680 --> 0:07:47.760 Joe Biden said. But this was a headline that you 0:07:47.840 --> 0:07:50.440 and I talked about and warned about, and it was 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:54.360 from the New York Posts October the twenty third of 0:07:54.520 --> 0:07:58.640 twenty twenty four, and it said border agents caught three 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:04.679 hundred migrants heirist ties, including ISIS, and it's still incredibly 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:09.400 easy for them to enter the US. This report came 0:08:09.440 --> 0:08:13.280 out October the twenty third, so we're talking a couple 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:16.920 of months ago, and you and I, and that's when 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:19.120 you really talked about you felt like there was a 0:08:20.400 --> 0:08:24.920 real chance that something like this could happen because of 0:08:24.960 --> 0:08:27.400 the of the of the idea that we have so 0:08:27.520 --> 0:08:30.960 many resources fred all over the place. When you look 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:34.040 ahead to January twentieth and Donald Trump coming in, does 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:37.280 this now clearly become a top priority on the issue 0:08:37.280 --> 0:08:40.280 of border security because it's a national security issue very much, 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:43.320 and getting back to doing the way that we used 0:08:43.360 --> 0:08:46.200 to deal with whether it was domestic or homegrown or 0:08:46.200 --> 0:08:47.319 foreign terrorism. 0:08:48.040 --> 0:08:51.680 One of the things that is maddening is even to 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:54.520 this day, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and the Democrats 0:08:54.960 --> 0:08:57.520 refused to secure the border. Just a few weeks ago, 0:08:57.640 --> 0:09:00.439 the Democrats held a hearing in the Senate You Shary 0:09:00.440 --> 0:09:04.560 Committee on the horrors of mass deportations, not on the 0:09:04.600 --> 0:09:06.960 need to secure the border, but on how terrible it 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:11.600 was that Trump is going to enforce the law. The 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:15.600 border will be secured. We are three weeks away from 0:09:15.640 --> 0:09:19.440 an administration coming in that is going to be I believe, 0:09:19.800 --> 0:09:24.640 absolutely serious and incredibly effective securing the border. But every 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:28.080 day that border is open, Americans are at greater risk, 0:09:28.640 --> 0:09:31.200 and we're at risk number one from terrorists crossing the 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:36.000 southern border. But number two, we're at risk from law enforcement, 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:41.840 the FBI, the federal government focusing on every other policy 0:09:41.880 --> 0:09:45.439 and agenda item other than keeping the American people safe. 0:09:45.840 --> 0:09:47.360 You know, I have to say one of the things 0:09:47.360 --> 0:09:51.240 that was dismaying is the FBI. Right after this happened 0:09:51.280 --> 0:09:53.880 in New Orleans, they went out and publicly said this 0:09:54.040 --> 0:09:57.640 was not a terrorist attack. The New Orleans police disagreed 0:09:57.679 --> 0:10:00.880 with that statement. The FBI has since gone on to 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:04.400 say they are investigating it as terrorism. But I got 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:06.800 to say, when a truck drives into a crowd waving 0:10:06.840 --> 0:10:08.920 an ISIS flag, I don't know what the hell you 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:11.240 call it other than terrorism. 0:10:11.480 --> 0:10:13.199 Yeah, And that I think is one of the things 0:10:13.240 --> 0:10:15.600 that's so frustrating, and that moves us also to what 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:19.559 we witnessed today with the closed circuit TV footage of 0:10:19.640 --> 0:10:22.240 this cyber truck that exploded in front of Trump Tower, 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:26.680 killing that driver. We're now being told by authorities there 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:29.640 that they said the driver the electric vehicle parked in 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:33.080 the valley area outside the hotel's lobby before it exploded 0:10:33.559 --> 0:10:38.560 into flames. We've gotten a tweet from Elon Musk saying 0:10:38.600 --> 0:10:41.160 that this was not in fact the batteries or a 0:10:41.200 --> 0:10:45.080 malfunction of the car that so many immediately wanted to blame. 0:10:45.160 --> 0:10:47.680 This was a Tesla accident that just happened to happen 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:49.440 on the same day as this other attack at the 0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:53.719 Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. They've now said definitively in 0:10:53.840 --> 0:10:56.439 law enforcement, this was not any type of battery issue 0:10:56.480 --> 0:11:01.440 or a malfunction. This was clearly done deliberately, and thank goodness, 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:04.120 no one besides that driver, from what we understand, died. 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:06.600 There were seven that were injured there, and this is 0:11:06.640 --> 0:11:11.280 now being treated apparently as a other terrorist activity attack 0:11:12.080 --> 0:11:14.400 in Las Vegas as well. 0:11:14.600 --> 0:11:18.960 Well, that's right, and the details there that there's one 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:21.720 fatality from the Las Vegas explosion, and that was the 0:11:21.800 --> 0:11:26.600 driver himself. The driver in New Orleans is also dead 0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:29.960 from a shootout with the police. As soon as it happened, 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:34.200 the mayor of New Orleans, LaToya Cantrell, publicly described as 0:11:34.240 --> 0:11:37.560 a terrorist attack. The police chief stated the driver's actions 0:11:37.920 --> 0:11:41.640 were intentional. This was not a dui situation. According to 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:45.240 the chief, the driver was quote hell bent on creating carnage. 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:48.719 And yet, as I mentioned, the FBI spokesperson countered the 0:11:48.760 --> 0:11:52.840 Merit mayors claim moments later stating it was quote not 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:54.719 a terrorist event. Here, give a. 0:11:54.679 --> 0:11:58.480 Listen, this is not a terrorist event. What it is 0:11:58.600 --> 0:12:02.600 right now is there improve explosive devices that was found 0:12:03.280 --> 0:12:05.400 and we are working on confirming if this is a 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:09.680 viable device or not. As Chief Kirkpatrick said, we're asking 0:12:09.760 --> 0:12:13.720 everyone to stay away from Bourbon Street, specifically from Canal 0:12:13.840 --> 0:12:17.440 Street to Saint Anne. That is my ask once again, 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:21.360 stay away from Bourbon Street, Canal Street all the way 0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:24.240 to Saint Anne until we can figure out what is 0:12:24.280 --> 0:12:27.559 going on. Our goal is provide to additional information at 0:12:27.559 --> 0:12:32.040 the eleven am press conference. Thank you so much, and 0:12:32.440 --> 0:12:33.360 we will be in touch. 0:12:33.520 --> 0:12:36.960 Yes, I will say that we want our community and 0:12:37.000 --> 0:12:40.240 our visitors to continue and join. There's so much to 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:45.400 enjoy about New Orleans and we are going to make 0:12:45.480 --> 0:12:49.560 sure that our routes and the Superdome are safe today 0:12:49.679 --> 0:12:53.760 for the game. And yet we had this tragic event 0:12:54.200 --> 0:12:58.520 and we're sorry again to everyone in our community, but 0:12:58.679 --> 0:13:01.920 we do want you to gout the day. As we say, 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:03.600 just stay away from. 0:13:03.480 --> 0:13:07.000 Bourbon There's two parts of that center that I think 0:13:07.040 --> 0:13:10.480 are the most frustrating for many people that are listening. 0:13:10.520 --> 0:13:14.800 One the out of touch with reality and you want 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:17.760 to have faith in law enforcement, but to come out 0:13:18.200 --> 0:13:20.280 in such a hardcore way, so this is not a 0:13:20.400 --> 0:13:22.960 terrorist attack, not being treated like a terisa and people 0:13:22.960 --> 0:13:25.880 are like, what's wrong with you? And the part that 0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:30.080 also went viral after that was a tweet that came 0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:33.280 out from the FBI New Orleans and it was them 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:37.960 having holding this summer a diversity agent recruitment event and 0:13:38.000 --> 0:13:40.920 we want to meet you. This was DEI on full display. 0:13:41.320 --> 0:13:46.080 We went diversity, inequity inclusion. And people say this statement 0:13:46.679 --> 0:13:49.920 and then that tweet and they say, what is happening 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:50.640 at the FBI. 0:13:51.800 --> 0:13:55.640 Well, the FBI has in far too many instances not 0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:57.679 kept their eye on the ball. And that is one 0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:01.160 of the reasons that Donald Trump is coming into office 0:14:01.160 --> 0:14:06.240 with an agenda of fundamentally reforming the Department of Justice 0:14:06.240 --> 0:14:09.439 and the FBI getting it back focused on its core mission, 0:14:10.000 --> 0:14:14.400 ending the weaponization, ending the politicization, and its core mission 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:18.480 includes preventing acts of terrorism. Now, in this instance, the 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:23.080 terrorist in New Orleans was an American citizen, so he 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:26.400 did not cross the border illegally, although apparently has truck 0:14:26.440 --> 0:14:30.520 did the truck he used across the border six six 0:14:30.560 --> 0:14:35.000 weeks ago. However, we don't know the story of how 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:37.720 he was radicalized. Someone who was an army veteran who 0:14:37.760 --> 0:14:42.760 served for many years, who became a self described proponent 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:47.760 of isis. That is something gone profoundly wrong, and it 0:14:47.840 --> 0:14:52.680 reminds me of Nadal Hassan. Nadal Hassan, you'll recall, who 0:14:52.760 --> 0:14:56.280 murdered fourteen innocent souls at Fort Hood. He was active 0:14:56.360 --> 0:14:59.800 duty military and he became radicalized, and during the Obama 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:04.560 iministration that they knew that he was communicating with the 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:09.800 radical Islamic cleric and War Alilaki and asking about the 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:15.280 permissibility of waging jahad on his fellow soldiers, and infuriatingly enough, 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:20.359 the Obama Pentagon they had those communications with Anwar Alilaki, 0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:27.200 and they did nothing to stop Nadal Hassan from from 0:15:27.240 --> 0:15:32.000 committing that mass murder. That they sat on that information, 0:15:32.160 --> 0:15:34.600 and we don't know if there's any of that. We 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:37.240 have no indication that there's any of that information now. 0:15:37.600 --> 0:15:40.640 But I will say we're dealing with another individual who 0:15:40.720 --> 0:15:46.400 is a soldier who apparently became radicalized, and I think 0:15:46.440 --> 0:15:49.760 there's a real need for transparency to figure out what happened. 0:15:49.880 --> 0:15:53.200 And I want to play my colleague John Kennedy, Senator 0:15:53.240 --> 0:15:55.440 John Kennedy, a good friend of mine. He's down in 0:15:55.480 --> 0:15:57.360 New Orleans now. I want to play what he had 0:15:57.360 --> 0:15:59.520 to say because I very much agree with with with 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:01.200 what he brest on the ground today. 0:16:01.560 --> 0:16:03.880 I don't want to hear from anybody in the federal 0:16:03.920 --> 0:16:07.600 government that they don't have the resources. Now the White House, 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:13.040 the FBI, Justice, Homeland Security are in charge. Now, we're 0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:15.960 cooperating with them. I want to give them a reasonable 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:18.200 period of time. There's a lot of information out there, 0:16:18.240 --> 0:16:20.680 some of it is actually true. I want to give 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:23.840 them a reasonable period of time, but they need to 0:16:23.840 --> 0:16:26.200 saddle up and ride. We need to find out what 0:16:26.360 --> 0:16:28.880 happened here, and it's not going to be covered up. 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:33.160 We're going to tell the American people exactly what happened. 0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:37.480 I'm not interested in placing blame or saying who is 0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:40.320 right or wrong. I just want to catch these sons 0:16:40.320 --> 0:16:41.400 of bitches who did this. 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:46.040 Centater, I think that the sentiment that many are feeling 0:16:46.120 --> 0:16:48.960 is exactly the way it was described by your colleague 0:16:48.960 --> 0:16:52.280 there that the Center from Louisiana. 0:16:52.360 --> 0:16:56.360 Well Kennedy's absolutely right. And look, the priority Number one 0:16:56.400 --> 0:16:59.520 needs to be keeping people safe. Number two needs to 0:16:59.560 --> 0:17:03.920 be catching anyone else involved in this. Where there other conspirators? 0:17:04.000 --> 0:17:08.040 Was this a broader plot? Number three needs to be transparency, 0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:10.919 figuring out how did this come to pass? Why was 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:14.800 this not prevented? Why did nobody sound the alarm that 0:17:14.880 --> 0:17:18.320 this guy was dangerous, That this guy was affiliating with 0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:21.200 isis that this guy was looking to commit murder? All 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:23.160 of those are questions that come out. And I said, 0:17:23.359 --> 0:17:26.080 number one, though, is keeping people safe. You know, one 0:17:26.080 --> 0:17:28.720 of the frustrating things about this attack in New Orleans 0:17:29.880 --> 0:17:33.199 is that there were steel barricades on Bourbon Street that 0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:37.119 were installed in twenty seventeen, and they were installed to 0:17:37.160 --> 0:17:41.960 prevent terrorist attacks in the area. And had the barricades 0:17:42.000 --> 0:17:48.720 been up, they clearly would have minimized the carnage this morning. Unfortunately, 0:17:49.359 --> 0:17:52.919 the barricades were down. The police chief said the barricades 0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:56.320 were in the process of being replaced, and I will 0:17:56.320 --> 0:17:59.960 say that is tragic. And look, got we've got bowl games. 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:02.000 They delayed the Sugar Bowl for a day, but we've 0:18:02.000 --> 0:18:05.359 got football games across the country. We've got all sorts 0:18:05.359 --> 0:18:08.000 of events across the country. We've got the inauguration on 0:18:08.080 --> 0:18:12.080 January twentieth, and one of the very important front and 0:18:12.160 --> 0:18:15.640 center needs to be keeping people safe and preventing another 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:19.040 terrorist attack. Just because one happened doesn't mean we're not 0:18:19.080 --> 0:18:22.439 at risk of another one happening. And that's why we 0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:25.200 need to be vigilant number one keeping people safe, but 0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:30.240 number two tracking down everyone involved in these horrible atrocities 0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:34.080 and then having full, full transparency and doing everything we 0:18:34.119 --> 0:18:41.480 can to remove and to apprehend potential ISIS terrorists before 0:18:41.560 --> 0:18:43.119 they take more lives. 0:18:44.800 --> 0:18:47.879 Can we just talk for a moment about incompetency here, 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:50.359 because that's what everybody is thinking that I think is 0:18:50.400 --> 0:18:53.120 listening right now the majority are I certainly am. And 0:18:53.160 --> 0:18:55.840 when I talk about in commency, you just mentioned it. 0:18:55.840 --> 0:18:58.000 It is New Year's Eve, Center, and this is when 0:18:58.040 --> 0:19:01.119 I get angry. It's New Year's Eve. You have a 0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:03.639 Sugar Bowl game that you've known about for a long 0:19:03.720 --> 0:19:07.359 time and New Year's Eve, and you don't have the 0:19:07.400 --> 0:19:10.200 barriers up that you know you need to keep people safe. 0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:13.800 Because you say that you're getting them ready for the 0:19:14.000 --> 0:19:17.320 super Bowl. Why wouldn't you have them ready for New 0:19:17.440 --> 0:19:20.679 Year's Eve until the Super Bowl. Why is it that 0:19:20.760 --> 0:19:23.560 it seems like every time we give government the funding 0:19:23.680 --> 0:19:27.200 to do things like this and to protect people, there's 0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:30.200 some excuse. And I go back to in competency on 0:19:30.680 --> 0:19:33.560 what we talked about just a few days ago. You 0:19:33.680 --> 0:19:37.919 look at the Biden administration and the plea deal they 0:19:37.920 --> 0:19:40.720 gave the mastermind of nine to eleven, Khalide Chek Muhammad. 0:19:41.000 --> 0:19:44.119 What message does that sind to tear us around the 0:19:44.119 --> 0:19:47.439 world that we will spare your life, we will not 0:19:47.560 --> 0:19:49.400 take your life even if you're the master a mind 0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:51.919 nine to eleven. You combine these types of things, and 0:19:51.960 --> 0:19:54.680 I think there's many Americans right now, and I say 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:57.760 this with frustration on behalf of many Americans that feel 0:19:57.800 --> 0:20:02.679 like they are not being protected by this administration the 0:20:02.680 --> 0:20:05.320 way they should be and were sending the wrong signals 0:20:05.320 --> 0:20:05.919 to the terrorists. 0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:09.040 At the same time, Well, we've had four years of 0:20:09.080 --> 0:20:12.679 an open door, red carpet invitation for terrorists to come 0:20:12.720 --> 0:20:15.760 across our southern border that has made us much much 0:20:15.840 --> 0:20:19.600 less safe. We have also had law enforcement, including the FBI, 0:20:19.800 --> 0:20:24.520 focused on political and partisan agendas instead of focusing on 0:20:24.600 --> 0:20:27.320 the bad guys, stopping the bad guys before they commit 0:20:27.400 --> 0:20:32.280 crimes like this. We will find out what information there 0:20:32.480 --> 0:20:34.480 was that could have been used to prevent this attack. 0:20:34.560 --> 0:20:36.679 We need to find that out. And even if the 0:20:36.680 --> 0:20:40.720 Biden administration refuses to make it public and to be transparent, 0:20:41.400 --> 0:20:46.040 I have significant confidence that the incoming Trump administration will 0:20:46.040 --> 0:20:49.000 make that information public. And I got to say, look 0:20:49.040 --> 0:20:53.600 for everyone who lost, for the fifteen people murdered this morning, 0:20:53.680 --> 0:20:57.119 for the families of them, for the three dozen people 0:20:57.359 --> 0:21:01.560 who were wounded, some very grievously wounded. I am sure 0:21:01.600 --> 0:21:04.600 they are feeling a level of frustration and anger. They're 0:21:04.600 --> 0:21:07.440 filling frustration with the city. Why weren't those barricades up. 0:21:07.840 --> 0:21:10.399 The barricades should have been up. They were put in 0:21:10.400 --> 0:21:16.040 in twenty seventeen. This risk was known New Year's Eve. 0:21:16.119 --> 0:21:19.679 It's not like that's a surprising time for someone seeking 0:21:19.720 --> 0:21:23.080 to do something horrible to target people. The eve of 0:21:23.119 --> 0:21:24.760 the Sugar Bowl that was another name. 0:21:24.840 --> 0:21:25.920 There's a great example of that. 0:21:26.320 --> 0:21:30.360 Yeah, and listen, one of the real dangers of terrorism. 0:21:30.440 --> 0:21:34.000 You can have a big elaborate plot of a dirty 0:21:34.080 --> 0:21:38.720 bomb or attacking a nuclear reactor or something, but some 0:21:38.760 --> 0:21:42.359 of the most frightening terrorism and Sadly, some of the 0:21:42.359 --> 0:21:46.399 most effective terrorism is very low tech. It is driving 0:21:46.440 --> 0:21:49.720 a truck into a crowd. It is walking into a 0:21:49.760 --> 0:21:53.639 shopping mall wearing a suicide vest. It is you know, 0:21:53.720 --> 0:21:56.280 I was living in DC twenty some odd years ago 0:21:56.840 --> 0:21:59.200 when the DC sniper was there, and that was two 0:21:59.240 --> 0:22:02.080 guys who drilled a hole in the trunk of their 0:22:02.119 --> 0:22:04.439 car and drove around DC parked and sat there with 0:22:04.480 --> 0:22:06.520 a rifle and just shot people. And I'll tell you, 0:22:06.880 --> 0:22:11.680 the entire city was terrified, was on edge, and there 0:22:11.760 --> 0:22:14.720 was no no high tech involved in it. And and 0:22:14.720 --> 0:22:18.360 and that vulnerability is very real, which is why we 0:22:18.440 --> 0:22:22.840 need a proactive FBI. We need law enforcement that that 0:22:22.840 --> 0:22:27.160 that is focusing on the bad guys and and and 0:22:27.200 --> 0:22:30.120 not on every political agenda that that that that might 0:22:30.200 --> 0:22:33.200 be the latest fashionable priority. 0:22:34.400 --> 0:22:37.639 I want to wrap up with letting the country hear 0:22:37.880 --> 0:22:41.439 Joe Biden. He did address the nation from Camp David 0:22:42.000 --> 0:22:46.240 uh seven o'clock on New Year's Day, as we were 0:22:46.320 --> 0:22:49.080 recording this about two hours after that, and this is 0:22:49.119 --> 0:22:51.359 what Joe Biden had to say, part of it, at 0:22:51.440 --> 0:22:54.000 least about this attack. Take a listen, and I want 0:22:54.040 --> 0:22:56.280 to get your reaction Texas. 0:22:57.040 --> 0:22:59.240 He served in the United States Army an active duty 0:22:59.280 --> 0:23:02.560 for many years. He also served in the Army Reserve 0:23:02.680 --> 0:23:06.119 until a few years ago. The FBI also reported to 0:23:06.160 --> 0:23:10.320 me that mere hours before the attack, he posted videos 0:23:10.320 --> 0:23:15.640 on social media indicating that is inspired by ISIS, especially 0:23:15.640 --> 0:23:20.320 the desire to kill desire to kill. The ISIS flag 0:23:20.480 --> 0:23:23.200 was found in his vehicle, which he rented to conduct 0:23:23.200 --> 0:23:28.000 this attack. Possible explosives are found in the vehicle as well, 0:23:28.080 --> 0:23:33.560 and more explosives were found nearby. The situation is very fluid, 0:23:34.119 --> 0:23:37.879 and the investigation has a preliminary stage, and the fact 0:23:38.000 --> 0:23:44.360 is that right right now, excuse me, there you go. 0:23:45.640 --> 0:23:48.960 The law enforcement intelligien community are continuing to look for 0:23:49.119 --> 0:23:55.240 any connections, associations, are co conspirators, We have nothing, additionally, 0:23:55.280 --> 0:23:58.480 report at this time, the investigation is continuing to be 0:23:58.520 --> 0:24:03.199 active and no one should jump to conclusions. I've directed 0:24:03.200 --> 0:24:08.480 my Attorney General, the FBI Director, the Secretary of Homeland Security, 0:24:09.280 --> 0:24:12.679 head a National counter intelligence to Terrorism Center, and the 0:24:12.680 --> 0:24:16.919 intelligence community to work on this intensively until we have 0:24:17.000 --> 0:24:21.040 a full and complete information. And once we have that information, 0:24:21.760 --> 0:24:24.760 I will share that information as soon as we can 0:24:24.960 --> 0:24:29.679 confirm it. Additionally, we're tracking the explosion of the cyber 0:24:29.720 --> 0:24:34.760 truck outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. Law enforcement 0:24:34.960 --> 0:24:39.360 and the intelligence community are investigating this as well, including 0:24:39.359 --> 0:24:42.640 whether there's any possible connection with the attacking New Orleans. 0:24:43.680 --> 0:24:46.200 Thus far, there's nothing to report on that score at 0:24:46.200 --> 0:24:50.720